British ministers last night attempted to brazen out a U-turn on their pledge
of thousands of extra troops for Scotland, insisting that there had been no
betrayal or broken promise.

Their claims came despite revised plans from the Ministry of Defence which
will see the planned increase of Armed Forces personnel drop from about
2,500 to just over 600 and the relocation of the Royal Scots Borderers, the
infantry battalion currently serving in Afghanistan, to Belfast.

The volte face, which was branded a “breach of trust” by Nicola Sturgeon,
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, will be viewed by some as damaging